the asian and pacific islander wellness center. pplause] founded in 1987 as a grass-roots response to the hiv/aids crisis in the asian and pacific islander community, whose center is a health services and education, research and policy organization, his mission is to educate, support, and power and advocate for asian and pacific islander communities, and particularly, for those living with or at risk for hiv/aids, as the oldest american not as profit that focuses on api communities are and how and a teddy services, the organization has been effective in putting innovative and holistic and effective programs and services in place and programs that benefit all communities. in addition to help and counseling services, the organization has lost numerous innovative initiatives to fight stigma as well as from a generational understanding of issues facing the asian-pacific american families and communities. congratulations. [applause] >> the good evening. thank you so much. of i and the executive director of asian and pacific islander well

it incorporates both group treatment and individual treatment for asian and pacific islanders who are struggling with chemical dependency. we use incentives to keep people motivated in treatment and we use both sort of informal and formal interventions. i like the diversity of the clientele that we get here at team 360. regardless of ethnicity, each of their stories is so different from the next. but for some reason, when they come into group, they support each other and they know how to- there's just this warmth and this support, even though they are so different. it's just a very comfortable place to be at and i think there's a lot of open-minded individuals. so like if i come in, they are not going to be like look at that drug addict. just like the opposite, they are like out here willing to help you out. the challenge and the rewards of what i do in recovery is that i get to see individuals really improve their lives, not only in their recovery, but focus on their everyday stressors, and they are able to cope with it in a much better improved way. our program is based on the matri

we also celebrate what we call the asian-pacific islanders as well, in terms of culture, experience, and multidisciplinary arts. >> the festival is actually very wide-ranging. you have 16 venues, and how many different performing arts centers? >> we have over 85 artists participating, 16 venues, 21 events. there are over 15 groups that are performing. >> there recently kicked off at the beginning of may and will continue through june 13? correct? >> that is correct. unlike in the past years, we have had to expand the festival because there has been so much activity and so many people want to be part of the celebration. we're very honored and pleased to have the festival going all the way into june. >> we're kind of coming in on one of the groups. >> francis is one of the pioneers of the asian american jazz movement and is also one of san francisco's very own. we're very honored at the cultural center that we can be part of the program. >> an addition to him, what are some of the other highlights of the festival? >> we have three gallery openings in the festival. one is called reclaim

the last census showed, we were 53% asian-pacific islander. the community has continued to grow and change. everyone has really embraced that. we liked that sort of diversity here. >> now, let's meet the president of the dogpatch neighborhood association. she will tell us about life in dogpatch, a clean neighborhood on the eastern edge of potrero hill, and we will learn how the residents convinced the city to a vigil -- to designate the area a historic district. >> dogpatch and the health and cottages are the historic houses in the area. those were built for the union ironwork. this really is one of the most original live-work neighborhoods in san francisco. because of this mix of housing and industrial, they need to sit in terms of scale and mass and height for the neighborhood. during the whole dot-com boom, we saw many move into the neighborhood. we found ourselves in combat before the planning commission for one project after another, and that was actually an impetus for the community to try to become a historic district. >> the process to

we also celebrate what we call the asian-pacific islanders as well, in terms of culture,

american community but just about every month of the year is some community, whether it's asian pacific islanders, latino, it's like amazing to me. i accept this on -- my grandparents and my ancestors were alive today, we have a president this year, president of color. and so no one can ever tell me that things don't change and people don't change because we do. and a lot of the work, a lot of times when i leave work and i'm tired or if i'm going shopping, i have a big smile on my face and the reason i have that smile on my face is i think about all the people that i work with, all my friends, the once who love me and that i love them, that worked tirelessly, tirelessly. they even -- i'm a member still of the h.i.v. prevention planning council in san francisco. they even ended the meeting early tonight so some of them were able to come over and enjoy me in this. dr. stevenson is here, one of the first people when i served as co-chair on the counsel council in israel, he was one of my biggest mentors when we went traveling to washington, d.c., and san juan, puerto rico. he really mentored me. when

to know, here in san francisco, the city and county, one-third of the population is asian american and pacific islanderat is why if you look at all of us who were able to be here tonight to celebrate this particular month in this particular fashion -- clearly, one-third of us living in the city of san francisco are asian- americans and pacific islanders. that is why it is so important to know that our voices count, and our boys in a celebration like this counts as we lead the nation in a great celebration. right now, i would like to call upon the san francisco assessor, bill ping, who is here to present the city's proclamation from our mayor of sentences go. i would like you all to say come on up bill. thank you for being here with us. give him a warm welcome. he is our san francisco assessor, bill ping. [applause] >> thank you, jan. can i ask some other commissioners to join me on stage? i know that commissioners mar and chu are here. if there are other elected officials, if you could join me. our community in san francisco is something we are extremely proud of. frankly, if it was not for all of you